Accelerated Reader includes multiple features to help you manage student quiz records: you can deactivate a quiz record, transfer a record from one student to another, and set when students can retake quizzes. Read the sections below to decide how best to handle a specific quiz record that needs attention.
The Manage Quiz Results preference determines whether teachers are allowed to deactivate or transfer student records. School Level Administrators and School Network Level Administrators can perform both tasks regardless of the preference setting.
Allowing Quiz Retakes
Generally, students should not take a Reading Practice Quiz or an Article Quiz more than once. However, using the class Quiz Retake Restrictions preference, you can choose to allow students to retake quizzes after a specific number of school years or to allow retakes at any time if the teacher enters the authorisation password. You can also choose not to allow quiz retakes. Since this is a class preference, each class can have different settings.
As you decide whether or how often to allow retakes, consider the following:
- If students have read a book or an article within their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), they are likely to pass a Reading Practice. If a student does not pass the quiz, the reading material was likely not appropriate for the student's skill abilities. It is also possible that a book was too long for the student, or the content may not have been interesting to the child or appropriate for the child's age or maturity. In this case, the student should not retake the quiz.
- If retaking quizzes becomes a habit for a student, it may promote guessing or lead students to choose books that are too difficult. Students may also choose books they have not read because they have a good chance of passing the quiz if retakes are allowed multiple times.
- For some students, allowing quizzes to be retaken may send a message that they can read carelessly and try the quiz, and if they are unsuccessful, they can simply try again.
However, there are some situations where you may want to allow retakes. For example:
- The student previously took a quiz as part of a class read-aloud, and the student has now read the book independently.
- The student read the book or article before and has reread it after some time has passed. This can be handled either using the time settings in the Quiz Retake Restrictions preference or the setting that allows authorisation password overrides.
Note: Literacy Skills Quizzes may be taken up to three times because students may see different questions during each attempt.
Transferring Quiz Records
If a student took a quiz while accidentally logged in as the wrong student, you can transfer the quiz to the correct student so that student gets credit and so that the other student may take the quiz after reading the same book. Quiz records can be transferred to any student in the same school.
Deactivating Quizzes
In some cases, deactivating quiz data might be the best approach. For example:
- The student attempts a quiz while emotionally distraught. Family upheaval, bereavement, or other worries may distract a student and make it difficult to perform well on a book's quiz, even if the student has read carefully.
- The student inadvertently selects the wrong quiz for the book read and completes the quiz before telling the teacher.
- The student takes a quiz while feeling ill.
In these three situations, it may be acceptable to deactivate the quiz record and allow the student to try again a little later. To prevent these situations, let students know that it is all right to occasionally delay taking a quiz if they are upset or not feeling well. Be sure to recommend that students review the book after the delay or before trying again. It is also a good idea to have a brief discussion with the student about the book before the student takes a quiz again.